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#REDIRECT [[Manhole cover#Theft]]
[[Image:Stolen Manhole.jpg|thumb|right|350px|An open manhole in [[Germiston, Gauteng|Germiston, South Africa.]]]]


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'''Manhole cover theft''' is the phenomenon of [[manhole cover]]s being stolen, usually for resale as scrap. Long considered to be a childish prank or simple vandalism, this type of theft is often expensive to municipalities, and dangerous to their residents. In recent years, the theft of manholes for financial reasons (i.e. to sell them when scrap metal prices are high) has also become more common.
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==History==
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=== India and China ===
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It first became a serious problem in [[India]] and [[China]], where missing manhole covers caused at least eight deaths in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3440451.stm|title=China manhole thefts prove deadly|date=2004-01-29|work=[[BBC Online]]}}</ref> Hundreds of manhole covers are stolen in the city of [[Bangalore|Bangalore, India]] every month.

In the city of [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[India]] more than 10,000 manhole covers were taken in two months. These were replaced with concrete covers, but these were also stolen, this time for the [[rebar]] inside them. The thieves were believed to be buying [[lottery|lottery tickets]] with the money.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040907/asp/calcutta/story_3724114.asp|title=10,000 manhole covers vanish - Fingers pointed at Growing craze for Drugs, SNAP lottery|date= September 7, 2004|work=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)]]}}</ref>

According to China's [[Xinhua News Agency]], about "240,000 manhole and street-drain covers were stolen in [[Beijing]] in 2004."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/15/news/funny/manholes.reut/|title=Putting a lid on rampant manhole theft|date=Mar. 15, 2005|work=[[CNN]]|location=Beijing|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050320084501/http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/15/news/funny/manholes.reut/|archivedate=2005-03-20}}</ref>

===Elsewhere===
In ''China Shakes the World'', [[James Kynge]] describes the phenomenon:
<blockquote>
...in the several weeks beginning in mid-February 2004, when, slowly at first but with mounting velocity, manhole covers started to disappear from roads and pavements around the world. As Chinese demand drove up the price of scrap metal to record levels, thieves almost everywhere had the same idea. As darkness fell, they levered up the iron covers and sold them to local merchants, who cut them up and loaded them onto ships to China. The first displacements were felt in [[Taiwan]], the island just off China's southeast coast. The next were in other neighbors such as [[Mongolia]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]]... Wherever the sun set, pilferers worked to satisfy China's hunger. More than 150 covers disappeared during one month in [[Chicago]]. [[Scotland]]'s "great drain robbery" saw more than a hundred vanish in a few days. From [[Montreal]] to [[Gloucester]] to [[Kuala Lumpur]], unsuspecting pedestrians stumbled into holes.
</blockquote>

In [[London Borough of Newham|Newham]], [[East End of London|East London]], nearly 200 grates and covers were stolen in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1335156,00.html|title=Manhole covers vanish in the night|first=Hugh|last=Muir|publisher=guardian.co.uk|date=25 October 2004|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In most of the countries of [[European Union]] it is strictly forbidden for scrapheaps to buy manhole covers, though this rule is often broken.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

==See also==
* [[Metal theft]]
* [[Street sign theft]]
* [[Parking meter]] theft

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.kypost.com/2004/12/25/scrap122504.html|title=Manhole covers disappearing: Thefts may be tied to high resell|author=Shelly Whitehead|first=Shelly|last=Whitehead|work=[[The Cincinnati Post|The Kentucky Post]]|publisher=[[E. W. Scripps Company]]|date=2004-12-25|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060511091241/http://www.kypost.com/2004/12/25/scrap122504.html|archivedate=2006-05-11}}
*[http://joburgnews.co.za/2005/feb/feb1_manhole.stm New manhole covers to beat the vandals] (City of Johannesburg)
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2010}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manhole Cover Theft}}
[[Category:Theft]]
[[Category:Subterranea (geography)]]

[[ru:Кража крышек канализационных люков]]

Latest revision as of 10:10, 14 January 2023

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